The Royal household had described the publication of the pictures, taken without permission while Middleton and husband Prince William were on holiday on the Caribbean island of Mustique, as "a clear breach of the couple's privacy."

The pictures of Middleton, on the front cover of Chi magazine, were flashed onscreen during a discussion of the day's news.

The incident came just months after ITV host Phillip Schofield held out a list of alleged pedophiles, which was visible to viewers, during an interview with Prime Minister David Cameron. At the time, ITV director of television Peter Fincham said he was "confident this sort of thing won't happen again."

This Morning issued a statement that said: "Earlier during today's news review we were discussing photographs of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on a beach in Mustique published in an Italian magazine. Unfortunately we accidentally showed an unblurred image of the magazine cover, which briefly showed the photographs. This was a deeply regrettable error and we are very sorry."

Chi, the magazine which previously published topless pictures of the Duchess on holiday in France, published the pictures on Tuesday, and the Australian magazine Woman's Day will follow suit when its next edition is published on Monday.